'I'll always be that bloke off Still Game': Glasgow actor's new role

But for some people, laughs David Hayman, he will always be “that bloke off Still Game".

“I’ve done about 50 films, but I still get asked, ‘are you the guy that played that snack van guy off Still Game?’” he grins. “Honestly, that’s what will end up on my gravestone.”

David during a break in rehearsals at the Tron Theatre (Image: Colin Mearns, Newsquest)

This week, David is starring in Cyprus Avenue, David Ireland’s Troubles-set, blackly comic story of a man who believes his five-week-old granddaughter is the then Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams. It was once described as the “most shocking play in London” and since its premiere seven years ago, it has toured all over the world.

It receives its Scottish premiere on March 2, at the Tron Theatre, with David in the lead role of Eric, an ageing Ulster Protestant left emotionally scarred by the civil war and deeply scared of what might happen to the cause to which he has dedicated his life.

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“Eric is a humdinger of a role,” says David, during a break in rehearsals. “He is on stage for 71 pages, he is on a dramatic and psychotic journey, affected by 30 years of civil war, and he is terrified of losing his power base.

“In his madness, he thinks his baby granddaughter is Gerry Adams - it is theatre of the absurd, because bigotry is absurd.”

David in rehearsal at the Tron (Image: Mihaela Bodlovic)

He pauses.

“Sectarianism is insanity, which is why it’s so important to do this play in Glasgow, a city riven by it,” adds David. “It’s a cancer, eating away at the city, and we should get rid of it as soon as possible. We’re really excited the Scottish premiere is here in Glasgow - I hope it sparks a debate.”

Growing up in Bridgeton, and then Drumchapel, David says sectarianism was “not a factor” in his household.

“I was aware of it, certainly, but I grew up in a non-religious family,” he explains. “Protestant, technically, but seriously lapped Proddies.

“But I saw it, of course, on the streets in the marches, the hatred and the power they exuded…getting rid of it needs to start in primary schools, at a very young age. We are still a tribal people. Unfortunately, people join the tribe of sectarianism.”

The play is extremely dark, hurtling towards a shocking conclusion, but, says David, it is also very, very funny.

“A Glaswegian audience especially is going to find this hilarious,” he says. “You will laugh in spite of yourself, you will laugh with your hands in front of your eyes, but you’ll laugh your head off.”

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David was working in a steelyard in Pollok when he decided to become an actor. Decided is the wrong word, he adds.

“After work I’d get the bus into town and then another out to Drumchapel and – this sounds a bit w**ky - but one day I got off the bus, walked up the stairs of the RSAMD, still in my boiler suit, burst into the bursar’s office and a voice said, I want to be an actor,” he explains. “I was looking around thinking, who said that? Was it me?

“It was inexplicable, I’ve no idea where it came from, but that was the moment.”

Cyprus Avenue is at the Tron Theatre from March 2 to 25.